The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

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The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
Directed by	Randal Kleiser
Produced by	Cindy Dunne Joel Thurm
Written by	Joe Morgenstern (story) Douglas Day Stewart (screenplay)
Starring	John Travolta Diana Hyland Robert Reed Ralph Bellamy Glynnis O'Connor
Music by	Mark Snow
Cinematography	Archie R. Dalzell
Editing by	John McSweeney Jr.
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	November 12, 1976
Running time	96 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
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The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is a 1976 made-for-TV movie inspired by the lives of David Vetter and Ted DeVita, who had to live in containers that protected them from all pathogens, since they lacked effective immune systems. It stars John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Diana Hyland, and Robert Reed. It was produced by Aaron Spelling and directed by Randal Kleiser. The teleplay was written by Douglas Day Stewart. The original music score was composed by Mark Snow.

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is arguably one of the most influential and best-remembered made-for-TV movies of the 1970s. In 1992, its premise was satirized in the seventh episode of the fourth season of Seinfeld and was also the subject of the 2001 parody/feature film Bubble Boy. It also served as a predecessor to the 1986 film Crystal Heart (originally released as Corazón de Cristal).

The movie first aired on November 12, 1976, on the ABC television network.

1 Plot summary
2 Accuracy and criticism
3 Main cast
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The film centers on the life of Tod Lubitch, who was born with an improperly functioning immune system. This means that contact with unfiltered air may kill him, so he must live out his life in incubator conditions. He lives with his parents, since they decided to move him from the hospital where he was being kept as a boy. He is constricted to staying in his room all his life, where he eats, learns, reads and exercises, while being protected from the outside world by various coverings.

As Tod grows up, he wishes to see more of the outside world and meet regular people his age. He is enrolled at the local school after being equipped with suitable protective clothing, similar in style to an astronaut's suit. He falls in love with his next door neighbor, Gina Briggs, and he must decide between following his heart and facing near-certain death, or remaining in his protective bubble forever. In the end, after having a discussion with his doctor who tells him he has built up some immunities which may possibly be enough to survive the real world, he steps outside his house, unprotected, and Gina and he ride off on her horse.

[edit] Accuracy and criticism

The "Bubble Boy" who inspired this film, David Vetter, had an opportunity to watch this film on videotape and noted how unsterile Tod's use of the spacesuit was. Vetter laughed at the idea that his character could simply wear the space suit back into the isolator without contaminating the bubble.^[1]